When I need to understand a personal experience, or digest a problem I'm working on, I often talk to myself and record a voice memo. I rarely listen back to the voice memos (although they are super nice to have as they serve as a historical archive of my states and progression as a person), the main benefit is in having the conversation with myself.<p>By forcing myself to verbalize what I am thinking and feeling, I always end up better understanding it. If I am dealing with an unpleasant situation, I can always find a way to feel better about it, or create a plan that I believe in, if I talk about it with myself.<p>Really, it's a form of therapy - it's not too dissimilar from the exercise one engages in with a therapist, except of course in this case you don't have a professional that can react to your outputs. Instead, the onus is on you to check yourself and self-process, which is very powerful (although of course there are limits to what you can achieve in a vacuum).<p>I find it effective to first elaborate upon my perspectives this way to myself, and only then share them with friends afterwards, such that they get a more cohesive presentation.